"Nurse, scalpel, please!" is a request that in future might be heard, not just in a hospital operating theatre, but also in one of the three new large-capacity emergency ambulances delivered to the Centre of Ambulance Services of the Government of Dubai. Because in Dubai, the hospital now goes to the injured.

These three Mercedes-Benz hospital buses were acquired in order to provide medical help swiftly in so-called mass casualty events, i.e. accidents or disasters with a great number of injured persons. Because the chances of survival of casualties with life-threatening injuries depend upon prompt initial treatment. This is where the large-capacity emergency ambulances come into action.

It is precisely the chaotic traffic situation around disaster areas that hinders and delays the transportation of casualties to the hospitals. Very often, too, there are not enough ambulances available. On board conventional ambulances a team of two can attend only one injured person, whereas in the Mercedes-Benz large-capacity emergency ambulances four medical specialists can provide attention for as many as 20 patients. The new large-capacity emergency ambulances now offer the unique facilities of a fully-equipped mobile clinic with an intensive-care unit and an operating room.

The vehicles that can be seen in action on the streets around Dubai, are quite simply superlatives on wheels. Based on the Mercedes-Benz Citaro and Citaro G urban bus, the conversion specialist Gebr. Heymann GmbH, in cooperation with the international research and consultant firm "Von Bergh Global Medical Consulting" developed vehicles able to meet the highest medical requirements. It is thus not without a measure of pride that the participant firms speak of the largest ambulance in the world.

As a closer look around the buses shows, that is no exaggeration. Three variants have been built. Bus version A is an intensive medical care unit, version B is designed for providing on a large scale, initial treatment and transport of accident casualties with injuries of medium or low severity, while bus version C is a combination of both types. This variant alone, offers treatment and transport capacity for over 80 patients.